Warriors of the Banished
by Sfrostwolf
Summary: We were always told monsters weren't real. There was no such thing as werewolves, vampires, ghosts, etc.. Its common knowledge. Apparently somebody didn't get the message. The world is filled with monster-like beasts, creatures that cause chaos and anguish wherever they go. The worlds only protection? Hunters.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _Disclaimer: I'm not a guy, so sadly Percy Jackson does not belong to me. :(_

* * *

Remember when you were little and you would watch some cheesy horror movie? Your parents would tell you not to, but you wanted to prove you weren't a little kid. You acted all big and tough, but by the time the movie was over you had to refrain from peeing your pants at the slightest noise or shadow.

After sitting up in bed for god knows how long in the dark, having an internal debate on whether or not to go to your parents, you would leap out of bed and sprint to your parent's room. You would slip into the room, waking up your mom or dad, seeking comfort and someone to make the bad thoughts go away.

Exasperated, your parents would help you clamber into bed with them, letting you cuddle up with them under the heavy blankets. They would stroke your hair, whispering calming words into your ear. They would tell you everything was ok, monsters don't exist. Eventually you would fall asleep, believing what they told you. You were ok. Monsters don't exist. Your parents said it, so it must be true.

They don't exist.

 _They were lying._

* * *

 **A/N: I'm experiencing writers block write now with my other story and this idea wouldn't leave me alone. The first chapter is in progress but I would like to know your opinions. Does this sound interesting? Should I continue? I know it's really short, but it's just the prologue. The other chapters will be longer.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 _Disclaimer: My name is not Rick and I'm not a guy, so sadly I do not own Percy Jackson. :(_

 ** _A/N: Thank you to my reviewers, favorites, and followers, it means a lot!_**

"The real world is where the monsters are"

― Rick Riordan, _The Lightning Thief_

* * *

My hands trembled, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. My heart felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. I held my breath, fearing if I didn't it would inform the intruder of my presence. I clinched my teeth, holding back a terrified sob. I suppressed a shudder.

The wooden floor boards creaked loudly, the sound reverberating throughout the house. A soft hiss accompanied the creaking, the trespasser was surveying the house. My eight year old body quivered, fear threatening to overcome me. My mom had told me to hide in the closet located in the hallway. I was crouched down, concealed by a pile of spare blankets that had been tossed on me. My mom told me not to come out; what ever happened, I was to remain hidden.

I don't know where she went, I hope she was hiding somewhere safe. I heard the steps coming closer, coming to a stop at my door. I risked a peek through the crack of the door.

I froze.

There was a massive figure not too far from where I was currently hiding. It looked like it jumped right out of a horror movie. It was a hulking beast, leathery, black skin pulled over a bulky frame. It stood on two feet like a human, but it was anything but. The _thing_ was hunched slightly, but that didn't stop it from easily being 8ft tall. Its head was pointing up, like it was sniffing something. Its ears were pricked up, swerving around like it was listening for something. They vaguely reminded me of a cats ears.

It had a long, sleek black tail trailing behind it. At the tip it was shaped like a spade, like on the cards my mom had shown me. The difference was the worst the card could do was a paper cut. The spade on the tail was sharp, sharper than my mom's kitchen knives.

Its legs were thicker than my waist and ended with large, flat pointed feet. Each one with four claws the length of a new #2 pencil, and razor sharp. Its arms were hanging by the thing's sides, each heavily muscled and ending with four claws reminiscent of the ones on its feet. Four jagged spine-like spikes protruded from its back.

To put it simply, terrifying.

I don't know what it was looking for, did it want me? Why? I hadn't done anything wrong. Well I had hit Matt Sloan, but he started it. Surely that wasn't why it was here, so what was it?

My fear level was escalating to a rate I didn't know was possible. Would it find me? Why couldn't it just go away?

The thing's head whipped towards the closet abruptly, making me stifle a shriek of horror.

Its vicious face, similar to that of a wolf, was now in my line of vision.

Red

That was the first thing my mind registered.

The abomination's eyes were a vivid crimson red.

I felt like I was drowning in a pool of blood, anguish, and pure evil with just one look. They were hypnotizing and I struggled to look away. I snapped out of it when it snarled, its blood-stained fangs put on full display, each as long as my middle finger.

It headed towards the closet.

I felt bile rise in my throat, forcing it down quickly.

 _No_

 _No_

 _Stay away._

 _Don't come any closer._

 _Go away._

My thoughts recited this like my own personal mantra, my small frame quaking.

The floor creaked in protest of the movement, the sound not helping my nerves. In just few brief steps the creature had come to reside right on the other side of the door. It was so close I could hear its deep breathing. Its breath smelled rotten, almost causing me to gag.

The next thing I knew there was a sickening _crunch_ and the door was ripped off its hinges. My body was wracked with silent sobs, the blankets hiding me from being immediately seen. It wouldn't last long, it could smell me.

I had begun to realize the very real possibility that I was going to die when I heard a loud _bang_ come from the kitchen. The kitchen was at the end of the hallway, only a couple paces from the closet.

 _Don't tell me there's another one!_

The monster's attention had been drawn towards the sound, its head angled in the direction of the kitchen. My mind barely had time to contemplate what was happening before the giant took off in the direction of the noise. I thought I could relax for a minute; something had drawn its attention away from me. Maybe if I hurried I could find a new hiding place before it came back. My hopes came crashing down when I heard a scream.

 _My mother's scream._

My blood turned to ice. I didn't think, I just acted.

I burst out from under the blankets, tearing down the hall like the world was ending. In a way, it was. I burst into the kitchen, halting in my tracks at the sight that greeted me.

 _No_

The beast had my mother.

Its tail was coiled around her, suspending her a couple feet off the floor. Tears were streaming down her cheeks like a waterfall. My mind was clouded with panic and rage, I couldn't think clearly. I did the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey you! Let my mom go stupid-head!"

I was never very good with insults.

Crimson clashed with a raging sea of green.

'Stupid-head' growled at me, fangs on full display and ears pulled back.

I was hyped up on adrenaline, so obviously I wasn't acting very smart. My mom choked out my name, her voice full of desperation. Her blue eyes were wet and brimming with anxiety.

"Percy! Run!"

I didn't listen. People say I have stubbornness issues. Usually I would still be a trembling mess of nerves, trying not to wet myself. If you added my mom being held hostage I was suddenly the poster child for reckless bravery.

My mom was begging me with her eyes to flee, to run and save myself. I wouldn't do it. I couldn't leave her.

"Drop her. Now!"

My voice rose sharply, I tried to hide the slight tremor in it.

It hissed, raising one of its heavily clawed hands. It angled its claws menacingly towards my mother, obviously showing it didn't think very much of me. I have to admit an eight year old boy that was small for his age wasn't very intimidating. Especially to a blood-thirsty beast.

Suddenly the back door exploded, spraying wood chips throughout the kitchen. A large man stood in the doorway, a scowl on his face. He had short, neatly trimmed, black hair and was clean shaven. He wore a long black trench coat over a black muscle shirt and black cargo pants. Around his neck was a silver cross necklace. He held some weird kind of gun, smoke billowing from it revealing that he had most likely used it to shoot the door down.

His fierce green eyes landed on my mom's attacker, a harsh glint in his green depths.

"Let her go now if you don't want to be blown to pieces."

His voice was gruff, eyes never leaving his adversary.

The monster let loose a hideous snarl before emitting a dark aura. The man let out a yell before firing his weapon, spitting out words that would have had my mom washing my mouth out with soap.

He was too late.

The creature, along with my mom, faded away into the shadows. The gold energy that shot from the weapon flew through the empty space and hit the wall, causing a huge crater to form.

Just like that.

My mom was gone.

It was that one realization that made me snap. I collapsed, falling to my knees on the cold, hard floor. My balled up fists hit the floor repeatedly as I chocked on a sob. She couldn't be gone. She couldn't. It wasn't fair.

I was snapped out of my breakdown by the occupant of the house.

"I was too late, I'm sorry."

I looked up, tears blurring my vision.

"Why did you take so long to shoot? Why didn't you just shoot it when you had the chance? If you hadn't hesitated my mom would still be here!"

I knew it wasn't very fair to blame the guy, if he hadn't come when he did I would most likely be dead. Still, that didn't stop me from being resentful.

"I acknowledge my blunder, and I am deeply sorry. If I had been faster the beast wouldn't have gotten her."

His eyes looked sincere, but that didn't change the fact that my mom was gone.

"You need to listen to me Perseus. I regret not saving your mother, but she can be saved. She is not dead, she was most likely taking hostage. If you want a chance to save her you need to come with me. It's no longer safe here. They know you're here, they'll come back for you."

I didn't understand. Who was this man? How did he know my name? What was going on? What did they want with us? With me? Who were 'they'?

I settled for, "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

The man looked me straight in the eye, green clashing with green.

"My name is Poseidon, I'm a hunter. It's my job to get rid of monsters like that Howler before they cause harm to the people around them. I know your name because I helped name you.

It was at this time that the man said the most cliché statement ever.

"Perseus, I am your father."

* * *

A/N: And its a wrap! Poor Percy, I feel kind of guilty... oh well. How was that for a first chapter? I Personally like it, but I'm probably biased. The second chapter is being worked on right now. Your thoughts are appreciated! :D

Until next time,

Sfrostwolf


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **A/N: I'm back! Ugh, so much school work. Sorry for taking so long, hears a chapter to apologize. I would like to thank all the people that followed, favorited, or reviewed this story. It really means a lot.**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. -sobs in dark corner-_

"The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous"  
― John le Carré

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

-13 years later-

A female scream ripped through the dead silence of the night. Broken sobs and heavy breathes following soon after. Whispered pleas for mercy, stuttered in a hysterical, terrified voice.

They were answered with a gut wrenching growl. Obviously the predator had no intention of being nice. Red eyes flashed threateningly, razor-like claws glinting in the moonlight.

The creature went in for the kill, claws swiping down towards the petrified woman.

Right before the woman was ripped to shreds, the beast suddenly tensed, claws looming mere inches from her face. A golden light erupted from the beast's stomach, causing it to release a blood chilling howl of pain.

It stood in shock, not registering what had happened, then it melted away into a mess of shadowy goo.

The ruffled women watched on in shock. She looked like she was contemplating whether or not she had gone insane.

"Waa…" she chocked out.

"I think it would be best if we both acted like this didn't happen."

My voice obviously startled her, her head turning towards me fast enough to give her whiplash. Her brown eyes were fearful.

"W-who are you?"

"That doesn't matter, how about we pretend you never saw anything?"

I didn't give her time to respond. Pulling out an intricate glass bottle of bluish liquid, I pointed it at her face and sprayed. Her eyes fluttered before closing and I caught her as she fell.

"Ah Mist, you never fail me."

She would wake up in a couple minutes, her memory of the past event gone. I carefully carried her out of the alley and sat her on a nearby bench, careful not to be seen. Turning slightly I saw her start to stir. I quickened my pace and was soon out of sight, disappearing around a corner.

Mission Accomplished.

* * *

"Target eradicated, one less hellhound in the world." I said, satisfied.

I loathed the mongrels with a passion, I had learned later on that the thing that took my mom was a hellhound.

"Good." The blonde laying on one of the hotel beds replied.

"What took you so long?" a voice came from the other bed.

The other bed, where the voice came from, was occupied by a younger boy, around 18, with pale skin and shaggy dark hair.

"Shut up death boy, I was trying to be discrete! Besides, it was chasing a civilian, so I had to use the mist." I retorted.

'Death boy' huffed. The blonde, who had been off to the side snickering, fixed his glasses.

"Calm down you two. I don't think the hotel staff would appreciate you starting world war 3 here. Percy, stop being a kelp head. Nico, stop instigating." He admonished.

I reluctantly dropped the argument, shooting one final glare at Nico which he returned. Jason, the blonde, smiled and nodded, clearly pleased we had shut up.

"Have you heard anything from one of our dads?" I asked

We hadn't heard anything from them for over three weeks now; it was unusual. My dad usually called me every other day, so not hearing from him for so long was like a red flag.

Jason shook his head forlornly, clearly disturbed. Nico's face contorted into an unhappy frown.

"Nope, I haven't heard a word. I'm starting to worry, do you think they ran into trouble?"

"This is the Big Three we're talking about, I'm sure they're fine. They aren't called the world's deadliest Hunters for nothing." Nico remarked.

Jason nodded, but it was clear he wasn't convinced. I wasn't either. They should have called by now. It wasn't normal. Nico knew it too, he just didn't want to acknowledge that something bad might have happened.

I should probably explain. The Big Three is the name of the world's most lethal Hunter team. My dad, Poseidon, along with his brothers Hades and Zeus, were legends in the Hunter world. They weren't really named after Greek gods. My dad's real name was Philip. Hades was Harris and Zeus was Zane. No one called them by those names though.

Anyways, the three were dangerous, only monsters that were insanely lethal of very stupid messed with them. They held the record for most terminated monsters. 985,996 to be exact. And they were only in their 40's. Safe to say, monsters peed themselves when they saw _them_ coming.

Jason, Nico and I were trained by our dads to follow in their footsteps. I've been in training since I was eight. Jason since he was nine and Nico since he was seven. Our first mission was a ghoul. They're related to ghosts, but they're solid and easier to see. They're more of a beginner monster. This one took the form of an old sailor. It definitely peed itself when it saw us coming. From laughter, that is. Three kids, eleven, ten, and nine, wielding tiny weapons and spouting pitiful threats. Yeah, we were a force to be reckoned with. We probably could have made it laugh itself to death.

Thankfully, we've progressed a lot since then. I can't say the same thing for my insults, sadly. My arsenal still consists of grade school name calling. On the bright side, Jason isn't a stuck up brat anymore and Nico doesn't act like he's on a constant sugar rush with an unhealthy obsession with Mythomagic.

Cousins, you got to love them.

We form a pretty good team though. Our goal is to surpass our dads. We currently only have 341 kills, so we have a long way to go.

Jason was sitting on his bed, his laptop on his lap. He grunted to get our attention, alerting us to the fact he had found something. Jason was the one that looked up potential monster sightings. Or as civilians put it, freak accidents or supernatural events.

I was walking towards him when there was a knock on the door. We all turned in time to see a letter slide under the door. I picked it up and examined it while Jason opened the door and scooped out the hallway. Nico stood beside me staring at the letter.

Cautiously, I opened the envelope. Inside was a letter. What it said brought all my worries to the surface again and filled me with dread.

 _To whomever it may concern,_

 _The Big Three aren't as amazing as they are said to be._

 _Hunters beware, none of you are safe._

 ** _TL_**

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Yay! Jason and Nico have appeared. Nico isn't listed on the character list, but him and a lot of characters still play big roles. Sadly, I could only put four characters. Also, I know the hellhound isn't like that in the books, that's just how I wanted to make it. The monsters won't be the same ones from the series. I'll post the next chapter when its ready. Until then, enjoy this wonderful cliffhanger! ;)**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **I'm back! Sorry, I went to a wedding out of state and didn't have Wi-Fi. Now I'm bogged down with make-up work. Sooo failed that algebra 2 test... Anyway, thanks for reading and for being patient. Sorry for any errors, I try to fix them but I don't always catch all of them. :(**

nikitabella: Thank you! Also, nope. I've never actually watched Supernatural. My mom has, but not me. Maybe I should...

the Oracle of Akemi: Thank you, that means a lot.

Rennwolf: I updated! ;)

 _Disclaimer: -In a dark corner growing mushrooms- Percy Jackson doesn't belong to me. -sobs pathetically-_

 _ **"What would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark? It would be like sleep without dreams."  
― Werner Herzog**_

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

We had received the letter a week ago. There was still no sign of our dads. We tried calling them, but no one answered. I don't know what _TL_ stands for, Nico said it was _Taco Lover,_ but they were obviously not playing around.

Personally, I wanted to go look for them. They needed help, we shouldn't be standing here twiddling our thumbs.

Sadly Jason, the voice of reason, talked me down from going on a man hunt for 'Taco Lover' _. We don't even know where to start. We don't know who has them, where they are, or if the note is even telling the truth._ I hated when he was right.

Right now we were sitting in a café. I think it was called Jumpstart or something. **(A/N: Anyone get it?)** We were sipping on our coffee while Jason looked up more cases for us. The last one had been a bust. It was just some prankster on a caffeine overload.

"Hey, what about this one?" Jason's voice broke the silence.

Nico set his cup down and looked at the screen. I trained my eyes on his computer, trying to see what he found. It looked promising.

"Weird lights have been spotted by several locals and tourists at Lake Eustis in Florida. Apparently at night you can see the lights over the lake."

"What do you think it could be?" Nico questioned.

"Strange lights? Might be a will-o'-wisp. They're usually the cause of weird lights near lakes." Jason responded.

I chuckled softly as Nico let out a loud groan. I should probably explain. Nico doesn't really get along with will-o'-wisps. The things have a personal vendetta against the guy. Every time we've ran across one, they seem to go straight for our resident death-boy. Every time we investigate one of these cases, Nico gets to go for a swim in the lake, courtesy of our target.

They just hate the guy with a passion. I feel kind of bad for him, but at the same time it's hilarious. Imagine a young man, dressed in all black with a touch me and I'll kill you look permanently on his face, being attacked by a small ball of light. Just think about. His arms flailing everywhere, the glowing ball attacking him like some ticked off bumble bee. Or maybe a lightning bug. And then picture him stumbling backwards and falling into the water with a comical shriek.

Yep. We are so going. I could use a good laugh.

* * *

Nico was glowering on one of the couches in the back of the RV. He wasn't a very happy camper at the moment. Apparently he wasn't thrilled at the idea of a rematch with a will-o'-wisp. I couldn't fathom why.

Jason was in the driver's seat, his eyes trained on the road. I had shotgun and was currently fiddling with the radio. I blame my ADHD; I have trouble staying still for too long.

We had been driving for a couple hours, luckily Florida wasn't that far from where we were, when I saw a sign that said ' _Welcome to Eustis!'_ We had agreed to ask around some; hopefully we could get some more information on what was happening.

We parked in the bottom of the parking lot at a Walmart and filed out of the vehicle. We had agreed to split up and meet in three hours at the RV with any information we had found. After a brief good luck from Jason we were on our way.

I quickly learned that people named Joe are very talkative. **(Sorry to any Joes out there!)**

"I've never seen anything like it! I was just minding my own business, then _bam_ , there were these crazy floating lights! Our maybe it was just one. That doesn't matter! The point is, it was freaky. It was just this ball of yellow light. It just buzzed around the surface of the lake, minding its own business. I about wet my pants! You believe me, right? I'm not making this stuff up!" Joe ranted, raking a hand through his dusty brown hair.

"Don't worry, I believe you. That sounds pretty incredible." I reassured him.

"That's a relief. People are calling me crazy, saying I was hallucinating or something. I wasn't, I know I wasn't!"

"Thanks for sharing with me. I appreciate it."

I was ready to leave, he obviously didn't have anything else. I could tell he was one of those people that could stray completely off topic and go on for hours. I didn't have the time or patience for that at the moment.

"Thank you for your time Joe, I need to meet up with my friends now." I said hurriedly.

"Anytime Mr. Jackson! I'm glad you were eager to listen!"

I quickly shook his hand and left.

I talked to three other people after that. They all said similar things; glowing lights around the lake. Some said there were a couple, most said there was only one. It didn't leave the lake. If we were lucky, it would be peaceful.

We were rarely lucky.

* * *

I met Jason and Nico back at the RV after the three hours were up. We swapped the information that we had collected and decided that we were right.

We were definitely dealing with will-o'-wisps.

Nico sulked visibly when we stated this.

* * *

It was dark outside when we arrived at the lake, probably around 9:30. Nico was still grumbling about stupid psycho lights and not wanting to go swimming. We promptly ignored him.

We stood on the lake shore, gazing out onto the lake. Nothing.

We sat there for about thirty minutes when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A bright yellow light.

I nudged Jason in the arm, who then prodded Nico. We all looked, and sure enough, there was a small ball of yellow light floating lazily above the lake. We shared a look before I took out riptide, my specialized hunter gun. Carefully, I aimed it at the light.

I pulled the trigger.

The celestial bronze beam shot towards the light without a sound, missing by a hair.

The light stopped moving, most likely shocked. It must have snapped out of it, because it came streaking towards us a couple seconds later.

Nico tensed as it got closer, obviously waiting for it to charge at him like some sort of bull that had seen a red flag. It reached the shore, and unsurprisingly, headed straight for death boy.

The ball flew in rapid circles around my cousin's head, knocked him in the skull, and then flew a couple feet away from us. Nico was flailing his arms and cursing like a sailor, and Jason and I were laughing our asses off.

The will-o'-wisp hovered a couple feet from us, obviously irate. Then it did something we had never seen before.

The small ball glowed brightly and started to grow bigger. It kept growing until it had taken a human like shape and was about two inches shorter than my 6ft. stature. It stopped glowing, revealing a 20 year old guy wearing a light blue hoodie and blue jeans in the place of the will-o'-wisp.

A very angry guy.

He ran a hand jerkily through his sunny blonde hair, his sky blue eyes flashing indignantly.

"What the _hell_ was that for?" he bellowed.

* * *

 **Done! I wonder who that could be... Not really, its pretty obvious. ;) At least I think so... Anyways, chapter 4 is already done, I'll post it when chapter 5 is done. :)**

 **I have really bad luck, I sprained my knee yesterday... Dang you luck, you have thorted me again! Oh well... -_-**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **I'm back! Rennwolf, my best friend, wouldn't leave me alone until I updated. :P**

 **Anyways, my knee is pretty much better, yay! I failed the math test, not yay... Next chapter may take longer to update, sorry. Oh well, here's this chapter as a peace offering.**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Annabeth does. XD_

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that."  
― Martin Luther King Jr.

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

"Whoa"

That was all any of us could say, our brains not yet comprehending what had happened. There was a blonde dude glaring at us. That wasn't supposed to happen. Could all will-o'-wisps do that?

"Do you always try to shoot random strangers?" the blonde questioned, taking a small step towards us.

Instantly riptide was raised and aimed at the strangers head.

"Holy Apollo! You people are trigger happy!" the abnormality exclaimed.

His hands shot up in the universal 'I come in peace', his eyes wide in indignation.

"Be quiet you stupid firefly!" Nico hollered.

The 'firefly' looked unamused. He gave Nico a 'really?' look, clearly wondering if he was right in the head. I'd given him those looks before too. Those looks had also been directed at myself countless times. Oh well. No one's perfect.

"Don't move." I commanded.

His eyes showed clear annoyance. It was weird. Usually when we faced a monster they would glare, look at us with contempt, and then charge with the intent of mauling us and bathing in our blood.

He just looked annoyed, like we had stolen his fries off his plate when he wasn't looking. Definitely not the normal reaction.

"Can all of you do that?" Jason asked.

"Do what?" the blonde shot back.

"Make yourself look like a person. Can all will-o'-wisps do that?"

That earned us a look that clearly questioned our mental state. I don't know why, it was a serious question.

"I don't make myself look like a person. I always look like this. I'm just shrunken down and surrounded by my aura. And yes, we all can do it. Can you stop pointing the gun at me now?"

"So you're a fairy?" Nico concluded.

Firefly shot him a blood chilling glower, his eyes like blue fire.

"I am not a damn fairy!" he screeched.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he doesn't like to be called a fairy. Just a hunch.

"Nope, definitely a fairy. I shall call you Firefly the fairy." Nico said smugly.

He was obviously miffed about being hit in the head.

Firefly's left eye was twitching slightly. His hands were fisted at his side, trembling slightly from anger. His blue eyes were stormy and he was glowing a little.

"Cut it out Nico, he's not a fairy." Jason admonished.

The entire time this was happening I had riptide pointed at the fair-, I mean will-o'-wisp. All though, to be honest, I think they had forgotten I was there. Yep, definitely professional. Monsters beware.

"Look, why don't we all calm down? You don't seem to be necessarily hostile. I think... I'm Jason. The trigger happy one is my cousin Percy, and the one that doesn't know when to shut up is my cousin Nico."

Firefly looked at us one by one, judging us. Apparently he found what he was looking for because he nodded and relaxed his stance some. I slowly withdrew riptide.

"I'm Will, Will Solace." Firefly said hesitantly.

Jason nodded, smiling warmly. He was the diplomatic one of the team.

"It's nice to meet you Will. I'm sorry we shot at you. Usually will-o'-wisps aren't very nice." My cousin explained.

"Yeah, well, I'm known as a black sheep for a reason." Will mumbled.

"Black sheep huh?" Nico responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup, most of my brethren get a kick out of messing with people. I don't really agree with their ideals, so I'm singled out."

"That sucks." I replied.

Will shrugged his shoulders. He was probably used to it.

Talking to him got me thinking. While a Hunter's job is to exterminate monsters, not all of them are always bad. Every now and then you find one that doesn't like to cause trouble; one with a conscience. In fact, lots of Hunter teams like to have them as members. They tend to be a great advantage, depending on what species they are. Also, since they don't agree with normal monster beliefs, they tend to not get along with their brethren.

Judging by the looks on my cousins' faces, they were thinking the same thing. We had been wanting to find a new addition for a while, preferably one of the so called 'black sheep'. This just might be our chance. Let's hope he wasn't too sore about being shot at or the fairy comments.

"Soooo, Will….." I let it hang there.

"Soooo, Percy…." He responded.

"How do you feel about Hunter teams?"

"It depends. I'm not very fond of the ones that try to kill me. (Cue glare)"

I coughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I said, wincing slightly.

"Whatever. I get where you're coming from. You're used to my obnoxious kin."

"Yeah, anyways, you said you're a black sheep, right? You don't really have any friends, why not come with us?"

 _Yeah, come with the people that just tried to kill you_ , a little voice in the back of my head chimed. I promptly told it to shut up. Behind me Jason and Nico face palmed at my bluntness. Oh well, I've never been known for my tact.

He looked at me, surprise evident on his face. Whether it was from the question, or my legendary bluntness, I don't know. His eyes went from one person to another, trying to see if this was some kind of ploy.

"I don't know, I'm not what you would call a heavy hitter or anything. I'm a healer, I don't really like to fight."

A healer? Fine by me. A healer would be just as helpful if we got into a fight.

"I don't care, you seem like a nice guy. A team wouldn't be very functional if it was only heavy hitters. Come on, join us, it'll be fun."

I probably sounded a little desperate. Oh well, I kind of was, sue me.

"Are the others alright with this? I wouldn't want to impose." He said, glancing over at my cousins.

He looked worried, like it was too good to be true and we were just yanking his chain. Underneath that I could see lightly concealed excitement, the idea of being a Hunter, of being accepted by someone, pounding in his mind.

They nodded their heads in sync, reminding me of two bobble heads. Nico's looked a little more forced. I bet it was because of his phobia of will-o'-wisps. How ironic. Our first monster to join, and it's the one Nico is terrified of.

"And you aren't going to kill me?" He said, his eyes lightly accusing.

"We promise we won't." We all chorused.

Firefly nodded, a friendly smile sliding onto his face.

"All right then, I'm in!"

* * *

 **Done! And can I say, WILLLLLLLL! Gods, I love Will! Yay! Fan-girling over... For now. ;) It was probably obvious who it was... Who knew it was him? Thanks for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. :)**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **HAPPY HALLOWEEN!**

 **I decided that since today is Halloween , I would update. Yay! Sorry this chapter is shorter than the other ones. I'm still working on chapter 6, so this will be the last chapter for a while. I'll try to update as soon as possible though. Thanks for all the reviews, they really make my day and inspire me to keep writing.**

 _Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it? Really? Fine! PercyJacksonandtheOlympiansdoesnotbelongtome,allcharactersbelongtotheamazingRickRiordan! There, I said it, happy now? :(_

"The problem with people who say monsters don't really exist is that they're almost never saying it to the monsters." —Alice Healy"  
― Seanan McGuire, _Discount Armageddon_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Eerie light flitted through the dark chamber. All that was heard in the deafening silence was the crackling of the fire from the torches circling around the perimeter. A rush of cold air blew through, the torch lights dancing in the draft.

The thump of footsteps broke the unnerving silence. Slowly, thousands of figures filed into the chilling lair. All wore dark cloaks with gold buttons. Each figure had a scythe pendant draped around their neck on a golden chain.

No one talked, not a single whisper was exchanged between the inhabitance. They came to a halt at the center of the colossal room. In front of them on a stage sat an obsidian throne, trimmed with gold. A large hooded figure lounged in the seat, their cold gaze taking in the new arrivals.

Once the crowd had all come to a stop the individual cleared their throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to my home." His deep voice cut the silence like a blade.

All of the occupants regarded him, rapt by what he was to say. Their eyes glistened in the light.

"We have all been brought together for one reason. Hunters. The abominations claiming to protect people from beasts. For years we have been suppressed by Hunters. They have been the predator, and us their prey. No more! I refuse to be a damn rodent in this oversized game of cat and mouse." Venom coated each word he spoke, his voice filled with utter loathing.

His words were answered by a huge roar of agreement, the voices echoing throughout the substantial lair.

"No longer will I hide in the shadows, no longer will I cower in fear! In the stories and myths, monsters were feared. As time has gone on we have lost our respect. We are a laughing stock! Just look at the movies. Hotel Transylvania? Lies! Don't even get me started on the Twilight Saga!" he bellowed.

"It is time for us to stop wallowing in defeat, to stop being yellow-bellied cowards! We are the things of legend, our names are the cause of nightmares! What would our ancestors think of us? We have soiled their names! It needs to stop!"

"It needs to stop!" shouted the crowd.

"The Hunters aren't the only ones that must pay. Our own species are betraying us. The Black Sheep. Just the term makes me sick. Our traitorous brethren have aligned with our enemy. They are glorified pets and nothing more. Scum. They all must meet the same fate as their masters."

"We must unite together to put an end to our suffering. We will make those who've wronged us pay. We shall take our rightful place as the predators, and they shall be the prey. We will be the cat, and they shall be the mouse! Who is with me?"

Utter chaos. The spectators hollered and chanted, the noise reminiscent of a football stadium during the Super bowl.

The speaker rose from the throne, his dark cloak rustling with the movement.

"I'm sure we all know the Big Three. They're believed to be the best of the best; untouchable. Hunters have put them on a pedestal. They're like a bee hive. Get rid of the queen, and all the workers shall fall. It's funny, the ones we fear so much are quite easy to catch. Such easy prey."

He motioned to his left and footsteps could be heard from the hallway. Five figures emerged from the hall. Two in cloaks in the front and back. The other three were in the middle, arms and feet chained and blind folds and gags wrapped around their faces. The chains rattled as they walked, emphasizing their despondency. All three had dark hair and ratty clothing.

The guards guided them up the stage for everyone to see. Shocked gasps resonated throughout the chamber. Hushed murmuring broke out throughout the mass of cloaks, all coming to realize the same thing.

"Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. In front of you stand the kings of the Hunter society; the most feared individuals in the trade. Their defeat shall lead to all hunters following in their footsteps. It shall be the end of our enemies, the downfall of the hunters. The so called 'Golden _Age'_ shall collapse, and from its ashes, a new Age shall arise. An Age where monsters rule the land, and humans are finally put in their rightful place on the food chain."

"What you have witnessed tonight is the beginning, this will become a reality. Any who join me in my mission shall have a place in this new world. With the _Big Three_ here in chains as my proof to you, I promise to uphold my oath to change this world!"

Cheers greeted him, pledges of their allegiance ringing out. Up on the stage the three prisoners felt terror course through their veins, their deepest fears coming to life right in front of them.

"Join me my brethren, as we take back what's ours!"

As they broadcasted their agreement, a horrific change rippled throughout the room. The cloaks draped over their forms started thrashing violently, then started to change shape. Slowly, fabric morphed into leathery wings, scales, fur, and an abundance of other things. Tails lashed out from their confines, some figures grew while others shrunk.

In a matter of seconds the whole crowd had been replaced by a large variety of beasts. They howled, snarled, hissed, and growled. Fangs were bared and razor-like claws were flexed threateningly. It was like a Halloween costume party that was horrifically realistic. Under the glow of the full moon, the creatures thought to be myth joined together with one purpose.

Hunters beware, none of you are safe.

* * *

 **Well, that doesn't sound very copasetic... Hope you liked it. Like I said, sorry its shorter than the others. Oh yeah, I had one of those epic ninja moments a couple days ago. I was at school in gym class and we were doing our volleyball unit. We were practicing serving the ball over the net in groups of four. Everyone in the group was getting it over the net. Everyone but me, that is... I was lucky if I even hit the net. My friend was giving me advice but it wasn't really helping. Finally I just got mad and hit the ball really hard when it was my turn. Instead of going over the volleyball net, it went in the basketball hoop, nothing but net. Everyone in the gym stopped and stared at me. After that I started getting it over the net, so the world must be messing with me. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **I'm back... I'm not going to bore you with a long AN sooo, lets just get started.**

 _Disclaimer:_ _I own nothing but the idea. :(_

"Don't be afraid of your fears. They're not there to scare you. They're there to let you know that something is worth it."  
― C. JoyBell C.

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

"Poke."

Cue glare.

"Poooke."

Cue death glare.

"Po-"

Nico's hand darted out, snatching Will's hand mid-poke. He leveled the blonde with his patented ultra-death glare. The mentioned blonde remained unaffected, not at all impressed by the younger boy's glower. He glanced down at his captured hand before grinning mischievously.

"-ke" he finished, using his other hand.

"That's it! Jason, make him stop!" wined the 19 year old.

"Stop being a baby Nico. Will, stop poking him." Jason replied, his eyes focused on the road.

We were lounging around in the RV again, having left Eustis the day after Will joined. The new addition had only been with us for three days, but he had already made himself at home. Will was sprawled on the couch, head on the armrest, poking my cousin in the seat beside him repeatedly. A Cheshire-cat grin was plastered on his face.

"K" Will said cheerfully.

He then proceeded to point at Nico, his finger a hair away from touching him.

"I'm NOT touching you!" he screeched.

Nico looked like he was about to throw a tantrum. His face was flushed and I swear I saw smoke coming from his ears. Jason had given up, deeming watching the road so we didn't wreck more important than babysitting Idiot #1 and Idiot #2.

I was chilling on one of the bunk beds, trying and failing to suppress my laughter. I couldn't help it, these two were so childish. I would watch them over TV any day.

"AHHHHH!" Idiot #1 screamed before hurling himself at Idiot #2.

Right before he collided with his target, Idiot #2 shrunk down to his smaller form and darted out of the way. With his target gone he was sent barreling into the couch, bouncing off and falling on the floor.

"Dammit!" Nico exclaimed, his eyes on fire.

"You're dead Firefly!"

"Bring it on death breathe!" Will goaded, floating around in his shrunken form.

To put it simply, Jason and I had the pleasure of viewing WWlll. Will was zipping around and Nico was running in circles, his arms flailing as he tried to hit the other boy. All of his efforts proved to be futile as he tripped on a blanket that had slipped off one of the beds, sending him toppling to the ground in a heap of limbs.

I couldn't hold it any more, I flopped on my back, my laughter racking my entire body. My loud laughter rang throughout the RV, Jason's quiet chuckles accompanying it. Life was never dull with us.

Will chuckled and grew to his larger form, perching on the arm of the couch. Nico huffed irritably and clambered off the floor.

"How much longer till we're there?"

"We should be there by next morning." Jason replied.

Nico huffed again and plopped on one of the beds. I swear I would smack him if he brought out his inner toddler. The last thing we needed to hear was 'are we there yet?' on constant repeat.

We were on our way to Fountain Hills, Arizona. Apparently there had been reports of what we believe to be Dustlings. I know what you're thinking; demonic dust bunnies! How could a ball of dust be terrifying? Well, unless you're a clean freak. The thing is, Dustlings aren't really made out of dust. Shocking, I know. Bet I just blew your mind. I think the person who named them was drunk at the time.

Dustlings are actually this really freaky hybrid mix between a rattle snake, and a scorpion. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, and I don't think I want to know. They have the body of a scorpion and the head of a rattle snake. They would definitely make for a creepy episode of Animal Planet.

You must be thinking, _oh, well that's creepy, but scorpions are small, right?_ I wish they were small. I swear the things are on steroids. The average Dustling is 5ft. long and 6ft. tall. Let's not forget that they travel in packs. The funny thing is, Nico thinks will-o'-wisps are scarier than them. My cousin's not right in the head. I was snapped out of my inner monologue when I heard said person shouting.

"I'm hungry! Can we stop for dinner now? I think I saw a McDonalds sign. Let's stop. Please?" he whined, reminding me of a spoiled two year old.

"Eww! Death Breathe, that place is a heart attack waiting to happen! I am not going to put that crap in my body, all that grease, Eck! Don't even get me started on their chicken nuggets, I don't think it's even real chicken! I absolutely refuse to go there!" Will squawked.

A fire lit in my cousin's eyes and I could tell a food battle, Smosh style, was approaching. Nico is a little obsessed with Mickey D's. Anyone who dares bash his favorite fast food will be subjected to his wrath.

Thankfully, Jason spoke up before our pet fairy was mauled.

"If you shut up we'll stop. Will, we'll get you Wendy's or something."

Nico nodded his head in agreement, glaring at Will challengingly. Will scrunched his nose and nodded reluctantly. I couldn't help but agree; the McDonalds clown gave me the creeps. I'd pick a girl with red braids over a psycho clown any day.

Two fast-food visits later and we finally had some peace. Nico was huddled at the table, gorging on two happy meals. Will was picking at a Wendy's salad, taking hesitant sips from his sweet tea. I had made myself comfortable with a couple Big Macs with a large fry and a vanilla frosty. Jason was eating a chicken sandwich with one hand and driving with the other.

When it was around midnight I traded places with Jason. I had taken a short nap and the blonde looked like he was going to pass out. I almost regret my generosity. It was dark, quiet, and lonely. Everyone else was asleep and the only noise was the engine and Nico's snoring. My ADHD brain was killing me. Would it kill the world to do something interesting?

It was around 6am when I started cursing my past self forever thinking that. We were in Arizona, right outside of Fountain Hills, when the world decided to bite me in the ass.

Everyone was still asleep and I was entertaining myself by contemplating cacti when out of nowhere I was introduced to Wile E. Coyote.

I was in the middle of contemplating why they're called cacti and not cactuses when my new friend went splat on the windshield. Blood and guts flew everywhere and I let out a high pitched scream that sounded vaguely like a little girl.

My ADHD mind decided it was appropriate to point out that this is what looney toons doesn't show you. It also had me wondering if Road Runner was nearby.

Sadly, I couldn't think too hard about this. The windshield has been painted a gaudy red and the hitchhiker had taken up residence on the hood, blocking my view of the road. I was swerving the RV around like crazy, causing my new friend to swing around merrily.

Behind me the others were getting a rude wake up call. Nico had fallen out of his bunk and was in a pile of blankets on the floor. Jason was trying to put on his glasses and untangle himself from his blankets. Will took one look at the windshield and paled, blue eyes growing to the size of saucers.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Jason, glasses finally on, turned to see what had caused his outburst and promptly turned green. Nico's head burst from the blankets and he quickly looked at our visitor.

Our hitchhiker was floundering around, body falling apart. I had hit the windshield wipers in a fit of panic and he was currently being smacked around. The carcass was stuck to one of the wipers, causing it to be swept back and forth repeatedly, the cleaning liquid mixing with the blood. I was lucky enough to be awarded a front row seat to the spectacle.

"What the _HELL?_ What did you do Kelp Head?" Nico yelped.

"I didn't do anything!" I screeched in reply.

"Hit the brake!" Jason ordered.

I did just that, causing everyone to be thrown around. The body was ripped from the wiper and impersonated a bird, soaring through the air. It landed on the ground a few feet away, a cloud of dust billowing up where it landed.

Silence

The only sound was the wipers, swishing back and forth and mopping up the blood and guts. One of them was bent slightly from its meeting with Wile E. I reached out a hand and wordlessly turned them off.

"Well, Good Morning." Nico muttered sarcastically.

His comment broke the silence, snapping us out of our daze.

"What happened?" Jason asked hesitantly.

"I was driving when Mr. Wile E. decided to say hello." I grumbled.

"Did you hit it or something?"

"No. I was driving one minute and the next he was flying at the windshield. It was like someone chucked him at us."

"Maybe one of his ACME products malfunctioned again." Nico mumbled sardonically.

I shot him a glare as Jason closed his eyes in thought. I cough brought our attention to the back of the RV. Will was peering out the back window, gazing out into the distance.

"I think I might know what happened" he declared, a slight tremor in his voice.

We rushed to the back of the RV, Nico shoving him out of the way. He stuck his head in front of the window, trying to see what the blonde was talking about. He must have seen it because he cursed under is breathe and pulled away from the window. With him out of the way I took a look for myself. What I saw definitely explained what happened.

Several feet behind us I could make out a large dust cloud. Large armored bodies were dragging themselves out of the ground, their pinchers snapping aggressively and their tails swishing angrily. Their snake-like heads were pointed in our direction. There were around six of them.

Dustlings.

Well shit…..

* * *

 **Sorry I haven't updated in a while.** **Chapter 7 is in progress at the moment. If you're wondering where Annabeth and Piper are, all I can say is they'll be here eventually. I won't spoil what they are but I'd love to hear any guesses you all might have! They might help me with ideas in the future.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **I'm alive! Sorry for taking so long to update. My excuse: life. Haha...Anyways, lets get right to it!**

 _Disclaimer_ _: I do not own Seaweed brain, Wise girl and Rick do. -_-_

"Everyone carries around his own monsters.-Richard Pryor"  
― Jonathan Maberry, _Rot and Ruin_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Remember when I said I wanted the world to be a little more interesting?

I lied.

It's way too early for this. I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet. Couldn't they have let us get to town first? Monsters; so inconsiderate.

After we realized we had visitors, we rushed around grabbing clothes and weapons. We had to look presentable for guests after all. Nico was hopping around trying to pull on a pair of jeans and Will was throwing on a t-shirt. Jason and I were already dressed and were grabbing weapons.

"My first Hunter mission! This is so exciting!" Will squealed.

The blonde looked like he had won the lottery and was not about to fight killer beasts. Funny, a second ago he looked like he was going to burst into tears. He grinned happily at me and I tossed him a special hunter gun. It smacked him in the face.

Oops…

He caught the offender, the grin never leaving his face. That is, until he heard Nico laughing, and promptly flipped him the bird. Nico ignored him and continued laughing.

When everyone was ready I walked towards the exit and slowly opened the door. My eyes slid back and forth, taking in my surroundings. All clear.

I stepped out, my ears straining to hear where they were. The others filed out behind me cautiously. Nothing so far. I took a few steps further, distancing myself from the RV. If something happened, I didn't want our ride being caught in the crossfire. Still nothing. I took a couple more steps. Nothing. Where were they? We had just seen them, and I speak from experience when I say they aren't the stealthiest monsters around. I took a few more steps.

Found them.

There was a loud _crack_ sound, and the ground vanished under my feet. How had they gotten underground so quickly, you ask? Simple. There were probably more than we originally thought. So that meant six were behind us and there was an unknown number below us. Oh joy!

I felt my sense of gravity vanish and a leathery tail coiled around my waist before I was hauled underground. Startled shouts could be heard as I was pulled under. My vision was immersed in pitch black nothingness, the sound of hissing filling my ears.

As soon as it happened, it was over. I felt my back impact with the hard ground, knocking the breath out of me. I was in an underground cave. Looking around, my dread grew. Countless beady eyes burned into me, their hateful gaze penetrating me to the core.

Well, this sucks…..

The tail that had been wound around me withdrew slowly. My kidnapper backed off slowly, its eyes never leaving my own. My heart was beating wildly; trying to break free from my chest cavity. How did I always manage to get myself into these situations?

I was completely surrounded. There was at least 20 of the killer 'dust bunnies'. My mind drew a blank. I just kind of sat there, participating in the worst staring contest of all time. _Blink and you die!_

Our competition was interrupted when a girly screech echoed throughout the area. A dustling emerged from a hole in the ceiling, a black bundle being dragged behind it by its tail. Two more came from separate holes, each with their own protesting bundle. Looks like my team had decided to join me.

They were dropped gracelessly on the ground, their captors slinking away. Nico hauled himself to his feet with an indignant huff.

"I am sooo going to kill all of you bas-"

Jason cut him off by stomping on his foot. He yelped and jerked his abused appendage away with a glare at the blond offender. Will was taking his surroundings in with awe, otherwise he would be laughing at the other boy's misfortune. Yup, we're about as professional as you get.

"Why are they just standing there?"

That's what I was wondering, Jason. Why were they just watching us? Usually when we run across monsters the only thought in their head is ' _Yay, a new chew toy!'_ It was kind of unnerving to have them scrutinizing us like this. _Is there something on my face? Was my shirt on wrong? What gives?_ I had never had this problem, did monsters care about those things? It's kind of ridiculous; I was feeling self-conscious in front of a creature with a face even a mother couldn't love. Wow Percy, just wow.

"I don't know", I responded.

"So that's a dustling? Wow, dad wasn't lying when he said they were weirder than Miley Cyrus! Eh, on second thought, maybe not. It's hard to beat that much weirdness, and this is coming from a guy that can shrink into a ball of light and fly around."

Will looked contemplative, mentally comparing snake-scorpions to Miley Cyrus. Pfft, now I'm imaging a dustling with Miley's face twerking. ADHD strikes again. So not the time. I disguised a laugh as a cough and brushed away the disturbing images.

Nico shot the will-o'-wisp a disturbed glare, raising an eyebrow. Jason ignored the comment.

We were cut off by the sound of clapping. My head whipped around and my eyes focused on a tunnel, the noise emitting from its direction. Footsteps thumped on the ground, the sound echoing off the walls. A figure slowly emerged from the passageway, their hands clapping against each other slowly.

They stopped a couple feet away from us. It was a girl around my age, maybe a year older, with sleek black hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing really expensive looking clothes, probably designer (I'm not very good with clothes). They consisted of an elaborate pink top, black skinny jeans, heels, and a lot of jewelry. Oh yeah, and she was hot, can't forget that.

Her eyes raked over me slowly before shifting to examine the others. I felt like I was being appraised for some sort of auction or something. She hummed in satisfaction after she finished inspecting Will, who was staring at her in confusion.

"Good work."

Her voice was enchanting, striking a chord somewhere inside of me. She was alluring, and I really don't know why, but I would probably do anything she told me. That scared me a little. Based on the others' faces I could tell they were thinking along the same lines.

"Sorry for scaring you like that, I hope you can forgive me. My servants didn't hurt you, did they?"

I shook my head, my brain feeling oddly foggy. The young woman sauntered over to Jason, a hungry gleam in her eyes. She held out one of her elegant hands, her thin finger tracing his jaw line. Her supple lips pouted worriedly, her eyes gazing into my cousins'.

"W-We're fine! No need to worry", he stuttered.

"That's a relief", she whispered.

Her eyes held his gaze for a little longer before sliding towards me. A jolt went up my spine and I shivered. Green met brown.

"I'm glad"

My mind was entirely focused on her enchanting brown eyes. The world around me faded away and all I was aware of was her voice. Her beautiful, hypnotizing voice.

"I would like to apologize for the inconvenience. Come, why don't we find somewhere more comfortable to talk."

My body had a mind of its own, my feet moving to follow the breathtaking angel. Jason followed in front of me; Nico and Will trailing behind.

A voice in the back of my head called for me to stop; it was dangerous.

I ignored it and trailed after my guide, gazing at her like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. My father would have been ashamed of me.

 _Hunter lesson #1: Never ignore your instincts._

* * *

 **Tada! They're in trouble. I don't know when the next update will be, but reviews make it go faster. -hint, hint-**

 **This is my ego: .**

 **This is a normal ego: O**

 **Please help my ego some, it needs it. -_-**

 **oh, and chapter 8 will be my longest chapter so far, so that's exciting.**


	9. Chapter 8

**No excuse for not updating... just no motivation. Ehh, better late than never. I'm doing this for fun, so updates aren't guaranteed to be fast, but feedback helps. ;)**

 **Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Annabeth Chase (and Rick Riordan).**

 _"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that  
something else is more important than fear."  
― Ambrose Redmoon_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

We entered an elaborate room. The walls were a royal purple and the carpet was as white as snow. Two black couches faced an elaborate fireplace on the other side of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, the expertly crafted glass reflecting beams of light. Tapestries hung on the walls, displaying brilliant works of art. The images seemed otherworldly, and oddly familiar. The scenes ranged from bewitching starry night skies to eerie forests to demonic flames that consumed everything in their path. All of them had a black silhouette of a man, a wicked scythe held in his grasp.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a black figure in the doorway. I turned my head to look and they disappeared.

Weird.

"Please, sit"

We shuffled over to the couches and plopped down without thinking. If everything wasn't so fuzzy, I would probably be more suspicious. As it was, my brain was telling me to relax and listen to the pretty lady.

Jason and Nico sat near me, dopey grins on their faces. A little ways over our resident blond fairy was perched on the arm of the coach, his eye twitching every now and then and shaking his head slightly, a confused smile gracing his lips.

"It is always nice to see new faces down here. It gets awfully lonely here. Such handsome guests I have, luck must be with me today."

The pretty lady beamed at us, her voice like bells.

My cousins and I nodded our heads like bobble heads, lovesick smiles in place. I was glad we were here. No one deserved to be lonely. The thought of her sad sent a strange feeling through me.

Will twitched.

"Why did your 'servants' drag us down here? Why do you even have dustlings for servants? Is there something we should know, hmm? Oh, and while I'm at it, what the heck was with the coyote?"

There was a hint of suspicion in Will's tone. His whole body was tense like a mouse trap waiting to go off. His eyes flashed with hostility and confusion. Ever since he had joined us, he had been a friendly ball of energy. Well, minus his love for messing with Nico, so his behavior came as a shock.

"Oh dear, please do calm down. There is nothing to fear honey. I promise, my dear dustlings meant you no harm. They simply were trying to bring me some visitors. They're rather docile creatures, unlike their brute-like brethren. The coyote, well, I don't really know what a coyote has to do with this. I only wish to talk"

The girl looked like she was going to cry. Her eyes looked pleadingly at us. I felt my heart clench.

Firefly suddenly found himself a victim of a three way glare. Tinkerbell was lucky glares couldn't kill, or else he would have been a pile of charred fairy dust.

"Shut your trap Peter Pan!" Nico growled.

Jason just shot imaginary lightning bolts at the perpetrator, trying to smite him like the god Zeus. I clenched my fist and growled. I sent the jerk my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later glare.

The blond paled faintly and shrunk into himself slightly.

"Calm down, no harm done." The goddess chimed, wiping at her eye.

We instantly relaxed and turned towards her. Will's eyes flicked towards her, unwilling to look at her completely.

Asshole.

"To be honest there is a reason I chose you specifically. My boss, you could say, has a certain interest in your team."

Will tensed again and narrowed his eyes slightly. I swear if he upset her again I was going to stuff him in a meat flavored sack and throw him to the wolves. Luckily, the idiot remained silent.

"You see, my boss is fascinated with the Big Three, and was understandably intrigued when he learned that they had children. He asked me if it would be possible for me to find them for him. Of course I agreed, there really is no harm intended."

We nodded our heads in agreement, minus the one with a stick up his ass. I didn't see any problem with a fan of our dads' wanting to meet us. Maybe we could sign a few autographs, I'd never done that before.

"This boss of yours, what's he like? What's his name?"

And the fairy speaks again.

"Oh, he's a great man. Fair and wise."

"His name?"

"He's rather skeptical, if you know what I mean. He prefers to introduce himself personally. He doesn't like it when others throw around his name willy-nilly."

"Oh really? That's not suspicious at all."

You could practically see the sarcasm dripping from his words. Great, he's at it again. Nico, who was sitting closest to him, shoved him from his perch.

"I understand perfectly, I wouldn't like it either." Jason replied.

Nico and I nodded our heads in unison. Will huffed irritably from the floor. The girl looked over at Will before smiling tightly.

"I'm glad you understand."

Will grumbled and stood up before looking around the room. His eyes seemed to burn holes through the tapestries and I saw his Adam's apple bob nervously. At his sides I could see his fists clench.

"Nice tapestries you have there, they have any special meaning?"

"You are an inquisitive person, aren't you?" she responded.

"People tell me that a lot. Anyways, is there?"

"If you really must know, they represent one of my favorite legends. It is said countless centuries ago there was a monster by the name of Uranus. -Cue snicker from Nico- He ruled over the enslaved humans and lower monsters with an iron fist. His son, after consulting his mother, decided to oppose his father. In the end the wicked tyrant was defeated, and his son took his place. Sadly, centuries later, this great hero was betrayed. It was never said what happened to him, or where he disappeared to. He simply vanished."

"Kronos." Will whispered

It was as if the room's temperature dropped several degrees. Everything was silent.

"Oh, you know the story too? How wonderful!"

I know that name. The tapestries had looked familiar, now I know why. My father had told me the story of Kronos. The only thing is, from what he told me, Kronos wasn't exactly a hero. Jason and Nico's eyes had widened slightly as well. Seems like they remembered the stories too. Well, this is awkward.

"My dad told me about it." Was Will's response.

"That's great! Do you guys know the story too?"

"Uh, yeah. Our dads told us about it."

Jason looked slightly uncomfortable as he said this. I can understand why. If we told her what we were told about Kronos, it might upset her. There was no way I was going to make her sad, I'm not Will.

"That's great! It's such an interesting legend, isn't it?"

"Yup." Nico nodded his head and smiled.

And we left it at that.

"So, this is a little late, but what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

Again with his questions. Although I have to admit, I would like to know the goddesses name as well.

"Oh, silly me, where are my manners? My name's Drew, Drew Tanaka."

Drew? What a beautiful name. Drew, Drew, Drew. It was perfect. A perfect name for a perfect girl. Will scrunched his face up like he was constipated. Of course, apparently he had something against such a perfect name. Figures.

"Tanaka?"

"Yes"

"My name's Will, Will Solace."

"Oh."

Drew seemed to pale a bit after that. Was there something wrong? Had she heard of Will from somewhere? Did they know each other? What the heck was going on?

Then things got worst. One second they're staring awkwardly at each other, the next a ball of light is zooming around her frantically. She screeches and starts swatting her hands in the air. We jump up quickly to help her. What had gotten into that idiot?

"STOP! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE! SIT DOWN!"

As if by magic, we found our butts flying to sit on the couch. Will froze in mid-flight, trembling. The light around him had dimmed and his 4 inch form was clearly visible. He looked like he was at war with his body. Apparently he lost, because gravity took over, sending him crashing to the floor. He grew back to his larger form and commenced a glare-off with Drew.

What the hell?

Nico had a _dafuq_ face and Jason looked freaked out. I probably wasn't any better.

"You shouldn't have down that, you incompetent fool." She snarled.

"You're a witch! I should have known! How could I have been so blind?" Will growled

Wait, _what?_

"Well this just won't do. Look what you've done. You have these poor gentlemen all confused."

"You're using charmspeak! You're the daughter of Aphrodite, a famous witch! You were using your voice to lure us into a false sense of security!"

What?

"In fact, that's probably how you got those dustlings to work for you!"

Huh?

"Honey, calm down."

Will scrunched his face up like he had ate an entire lemon and shook his head angrily.

"Shut up!"

Well then…

Usually one of us would have reprimanded him for his behavior, but we were hopelessly lost at the moment. Nico looked like someone had handed him a calculus worksheet and told him to solve it. Utterly confused. Jason had a look of deep bewilderment on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched up and his eyes were narrowed. Remember that one episode of SpongeBob where we got a look into his mind and it was an office with a bunch of miniature hims? And something happened and they shredded all the files/memories. When they went to find a file there was sheer chaos. On the outside, SpongeBob was sitting there completely baffled.

Yeahhh, that's me right about now.

"Manners would not kill you! May I remind you that you are talking to a lady? Behave yourself and let's be civil adults."

"Guys, snap out of it! She's a witch! Y'know, a monster? And most certainly not a Black Sheep."

Jason was the first to snap out of it. He jumped up like he had been electrocuted and glared at Drew. Nico and I were quick to follow. I told the mini-mes to take a chill-pill.

"Oh dear, look what you've done now. I guess you leave me with no choice."

The next thing I knew she had her fingers to her lips and let loose a shrill whistle.

 _Why would she-, oh crap…_

One second we're in a fancy room with a hot chick, and the next she's sic'ing her hybrid security guards on us.

How lovely.

"Boys, be dears and apprehend these fauteurs de troubles."

* * *

Being lugged around by a dustling isn't the most comfortable experience in the world. Is it too late to go back to the nice room and act like nothing happened? The whole time we were being carted away Will kept looking at us as if to say _I told you so_. I did my best to ignore him. I was already embarrassed enough by my own stupidity. Nico flipped him off and Jason blushed. We would have used our guns, but they were currently residing with Drew, curtesy of her charmspeak. Will had celestial bronze cuffs on his wrists to prevent him from using his powers, so we weren't getting help from super fairy any time soon.

Drew. I really hate that name. I can see why Will doesn't like it now.

The only thing that cheered me up was the fact that Nico was being carried by the scruff of his shirt like a disgruntled kitten.

We traversed through several different tunnels, each looking exactly alike. Dirt, dirt, dirt, hey look, more dirt! How the heck could you navigate this place? It all looked the same. Ugh.

"Well, this sucks…" grumbled Will.

"Sorry Will." Jason whispered.

"It's ok." he responded.

Left, Right, Right, Straight, Left, Left….. Yeah, I wasn't going to remember all of that. I guess that's the point. We finally came to a stop at a pair of steel doors. Drew keyed in a code on this computer thing on the wall and they opened. Her guards toted us in behind her. Inside was a jail cell. Two metal beds were attached to the wall by thick chains, hovering a couple feet off the ground. In the far corner were some newspapers and a steel bucket.

Charming….

An old lightbulb hung from the ceiling flickering occasionally. Drew unlocked the door to the cell and opened it up. With a gesture of her hand we were hurled into the cell like ragdolls. The cell door slammed shut and was locked as we pushed ourselves up.

"My boss will be here later, until then you can hang out here."

She sent us a mocking smile before flipping around and stalking out, her entourage following close behind and the door closing behind them.

"Well, that escalated quickly." Nico muttered.

Will jumped up and sprinted towards the cell bars. No good. The bars were to close together. Even if he did get through, then what? We didn't know the code to get out. We were trapped.

I walked over and sat on one of the 'beds'. Jason went and sat on the other one. Nico sat Indian style on the floor, glaring at the door. Will shook the bars angrily, paced back and forth a couple times, and then sat down with his back against the bars.

This sucks…..

"I am never trusting a hot girl again." I muttered.

"Women, I'll never understand them." Nico groused.

"Here Here!" Chimed Will.

Jason sighed in exasperation. He took his glasses of before rubbing his face irritably.

"I know this looks bad right now, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Let's just calm down and think" he advised.

We sat in silence for about ten minutes give or take when Nico snapped.

"Erg, I got nothing!"

"Nada" added Will.

"This is getting us nowhere." I commented.

Jason glared at all of us in reply.

Suddenly the computer pad beside the door beeped, interrupting our 'conversation'. The doors pulled open and someone walked in. If it was Drew, I was going to give her a piece of mind.

It was a girl, but it wasn't Drew. She was around Jason's age, Cherokee heritage, with choppy brown hair braided in some places with feathers. She was wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt with an old jacket. As she got closer I got a closer look at her eyes. It didn't help. I still couldn't decide what color they were. They were like a kaleidoscope. They changed from blue, to green, to brown. Oh yeah, and she was hot.

Looks like I can't trust her.

Who was she? Was she Drew's boss? Well, if she was, than we had a lot to talk about, and I wasn't going to hold my tongue. Nico jumped to his feet and pinned her with a death-boy-glare-1000. It was ineffective. Will muttered something along the lines of _'not another one',_ and glared at her.

"Your womanly wiles won't work this time, you witch! I'm on to you!" Nico yowled.

And Jason….

My cousin's eyes were wide and there was something in them I couldn't quite decipher. He had a small blush and was running his hand through his hair.

MAN DOWN!  
I REPEAT, MAN DOWN!

"Oh Gods, please, calm down. It's not what it looks like, I promise. Wow, that sounded so cliché. Besides the point… I'm not here to antagonize you. You want out, I want out. How about I free you guys and we get the hell out of here?"

* * *

 **Longest chapter so far. New character! Its pretty obvious who it is, but I know some people were wondering when she would appear. I would like to hear your ideas on the other characters. Any ideas for what kind of monsters they should be? I have some decided, but I would love to hear your opinions and questions.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Sfrostwolf**


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